DESIGN PROFILE : Jonathan Barnbrook

Design History and Context

Jonathan Barnbrook has designed many well known and provocatively named typefaces since the launch of Virus his font foundry in 1997 such as Mason (originally Manson), Exocet (a French anti-ship missile) and Bastard; aiming to provide innovative yet usable fonts. Barnbrook also works within graphic design, industrial design and film, some notable examples in artwork for David Bowie albums, a very successful television advertisement for the British Heart Foundation and another ad for BBC Radio Scotland that won a d&ad silver for best typographic commercial. Barnbrook chalks his inspiration and influences up to An inner anger which is a response to all the unfairness that is in this world. (www.typographer. org/archive/mag-interview-barnbrook.html) He mainly refers to his contempt towards capitalism and corporation and a fascination with contemporary politics and 20th century history. His work often challenges such issues and reacts to current political events for example his pictograms Olympukes designed as a countermeasure to the hype of the 2004 summer Olympics, reflecting the bribery, political manipualtion, drug taking and greed behind the event (www.virusfonts.com/fonts/olympukes).

Design Analysis

Barnbrook is an extremely provocactive graphic designer who often uses his skill to challenge the norms and inequalities that exist within the western world. He often uses very evocative imagery such as Jesus, the American flag and Ronald McDonald to bring out an emotional response from the viewer in the hopes that this will cause the viewer to question their own thoughts and beliefs on a particular subject. (see fig. 1) He created 2 entire font faces consisting of contentious icons. One was called Apocalypso and contained a lot of religious iconography and burning flags. (see fig. 2) The other was called Olympukes and was designed to show that the pictograms made for the 2004 Olympics did not reflect the true nature of the Olympics which he felt were extremely corrupt. In Barnbrooks more graphical work, he tends to use very striking imagery with graphics and text overlaid. A lot of time is spent on typography and it really shows in his work. We often find text laid out in unusual ways that shows a great deal of influence from David Carson. (see fig. 3) His use of colour and space tends to be quite striking and is often used to complement rather than overpower an image. (see fig. 4)

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DESIGN PROFILE : Jonathan Barnbrook

Colour Palette

- range of appropriate styles and categories -

Typographic Styles

Exocet

Infidel

Mason

Moron

Newspeak

Nixon Script

Patriot Prototype

Regime

Style Descriptors

Typographer, Social Conscience, Corporate Culture, Subversive, Rhythm, Unusual Composition,

Gallery Categories

Books, Film, Magazines, Font Commissions, Music, Fashion & Cosmetics, Political etc.
Key Image The design of the album cover reflects the irreligious meaning of the title Heathen. The work sports Bowies own image, with stylized white eyes giving him a sinister and ungodly look. The background is a muted sepia colour which draws the focus of attention to the brighter orange title. The word is displayed in Barnbrooks Priori typeface and is positioned inverted and reads from right to left. Overall the design is simple, eye-catching and conveys the implications of the title well.